Grateful

August 20, 2020

Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,

We are about to enter our sixth week of timed entry to Untermyer Gardens. We are more than grateful for our cherished volunteers, who help monitor the front gate and walk the grounds. Most public gardens have paid employees to do this work, but the Conservancy’s extremely frugal model enables us to put a high percentage of our funds directly into the garden. Hats off to our heros!

The hot weather and lengthy dry stretches have made it critical to set out many sprinklers all day long everywhere you look. Our gardeners even return to the garden after dinner to turn them off. Thanks to this behind-the-scenes devotion, our greenery remains lush.

The tropical storm two weeks ago felled a Kentucky coffee tree, which had posed a growing conflict with the allée of cryptomeria along the Vista. Though it’s sad to lose any tree, the storm took a difficult decision out of our hands. And the tree had the grace to fall down almost precisely in the narrow space between the allée and the deer fence, with minimal damage to its surroundings.

Earlier this summer, while moving soil for the new Ornamental Vegetable Garden, we unearthed another garden ornament which has now joined our array of plinths and ruined pedestals on the nearby retaining wall. Wondering where to place it, I closely examined the wall’s 100-year-old cast stone coping and found an area where the stone texture was less eroded by the elements. It corresponded exactly to the footprint of the plinth, which in all probability had protected it from wear for many decades. What serendipity!

​If you are interested in joining our tours in September, when the garden will truly be glorious, here is the schedule.

Finally, for his latest video, Timothy has donned boots and teaches us about aquatics.